Background: Niosomes are multi-layered vesicles that are used as one of the new targeted drug delivery systems. This study aimed to synthesize niosome loaded A. chamamelifolia extract to investigate its biological effects.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, which was conducted at the Islamic Azad University, East Tehran Branch, from January 2019 to September 2020, a niosomal nanocarrier was fabricated using a thin layer-film method, and the A. chamemifolia extract was loaded on it. Subsequently, its physical and chemical properties were confirmed using SEM, FTIR and DLS methods. Finally, its antimicrobial and anti-cancer effects against breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) were investigated using micro-dilution and MTT methods, respectively and the expression of Bax and Bcl2 apoptotic genes were studied via quantitative Real Time PCR.

Results: The results of this study showed that the synthesized niosome loaded extract had a spherical structure and its size was less than 200 nm. The results exhibited that niosome loaded extract had significant antimicrobial and anti-cancer effects compared to the free extract and the expression of Bax and Bcl2 genes were decreased and increased, respectively 4.16±0.41 (P<0.01) and 0.61±0.17 (P<0.05).

Conclusion: it can be concluded that niosome is one of the suitable nanocarriers for drug delivery of A. chamemifolia extract for cytotoxic purposes and can be used as an effective nano-carrier to deliver the extract to the target tissue with further studies.